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A Message from Tokyo – January 2025
Goodbye 2024. Hello 2025. Happy New Year, Everyone! Sitting here at my garden table on the first Sunday of January 2025 feels no different from any other day, but I’m grateful for the upcoming year that stretches out before me, waiting for me to carve. Japan experienced a year filled with significant events, ranging from natural disasters to groundbreaking achievements and cultural milestones. The year started with the massive earthquake in the Noto Peninsula on New Year’s Day marking the most disastrous start of a New Year. In this post, I will narrate an incident that left us with mixed feelings at the start of 2024! On 1st January 2024,…
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Inner Musings from Tokyo : December 2021
For Japanese language learners, December is a month that tests the whole year of efforts and dedication on, not only improving the language skills – written, spoken, and listening, but it is also about a process of understanding oneself, whether you are excited about giving the exam and continuing it the next year as well. My N3 classes got over in November and then it was a week of 復習 or revision. That 1 extra kanji or a grammar pattern if you could know more, might come in the exam! (A feeling before every exam, I guess) So, the first week of December was all about JLPT. This time again…
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Inner Musings from Tokyo : October 2021
Welcome to the October post in the cold month of December… October is a great month to celebrate the coming of autumn in Japan. With typhoon season largely over by the end of September, October offers some of Japan’s fairest and most comfortable weather and there are amazing spots to enjoy the beautiful nature such as hiking and viewing autumn leaves. October was a little quieter month as there wasn’t any traveling, except going to Shibuya and Harajuku, the 2 most distinct popular areas in Tokyo for seeing or shall I say participating at the most famous Halloween celebration… Halloween in Japan is becoming bigger and bigger every year. From…
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Inner Musings from Tokyo : September 2021
September is known for 2 things in Japan 1st the start of Typhoon season and 2nd the Silver Week holidays, a shorter version of Golden Week. Silver week holidays marks the beginning of Autumn ? The key to seeing silver week is September’s Respect for the Aged Day and Autumnal Equinox Day. The month was lazy and cozy as the temperature started getting cooler and days getting smaller. For most weekends we were at home. We had made some great elaborate plans for Shimoda for 4 nights; however, we canceled it the night before. Mrs. Roy Kapur was busy with her project, we got a bit lazy to do the…
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Inner Musings from Tokyo : August 2021
The heat and humidity of July only intensified in August. It has been unbearably hot in August. Thankfully we didn’t venture out much this summer as our son had summer classes almost every day requiring him to go to Juku. Work from home is especially an extra blessing when the weather is extreme, whether hot or cold. Mostly, it has been working from home in our living room, the only room with an AC installed?. It was certainly hot and humid in the other rooms, but thankfully we live in an apartment with nice cross ventilation, hence we can manage with fans only. Japan had a long weekend at the…
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Inner Musings from Tokyo : July 2021
July is still mid of year feeling, and I felt like summer is taking over me. As I sit in a Starbucks on this hot afternoon with a lovely drink, it is a time to continue my assessment and also plan for the rest of the year. For the Roy Kapur family, one of the main highlights of July has been father and son giving the JLPT (Japanese Level Proficiency Test) examination together, probably it would be the first time in the history of JLPT that the father ATTEMPTS THE LOWER LEVEL than the son. So, the month started with first time appearing for the JLPT examination in Japan, that…
